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ASUS may make its own version of Microsoft's HoloLens glasses
Microsoft might not be the only one making a holographic augmented reality headset in the near future. ASUS has revealed to CNET that it's talking to Microsoft about making a version of HoloLens. The firm is "still evaluating" what these glasses would look like, so you shouldn't expect to wear Republic of Gamers-branded eyewear any time soon. However, Microsoft is quick to note it's trying to "create a category" with HoloLens -- it wants to see a full-fledged holographic display ecosystem, not just its own gear. Don't be surprised if the technology (eventually) hits the mainstream through ASUS and a slew of other familiar Windows hardware makers.
Microsoft HoloLens reaches developers in early 2016 for $3,000
Microsoft has been answering a lot of questions about HoloLens as of late, but a few questions have remained: When can you get it? And will you need to mortgage your home to get one? Well, those mysteries have been solved... if you're a programmer. The crew in Redmond has revealed that a Development Edition of its holographic computing headset will launch in the first quarter of 2016 for $3,000. That's not a completely outlandish price tag, but it's safe to say that you won't be getting this early HoloLens purely for kicks -- this is to help prepare apps for the eventual mainstream version of the device. Still, it's good to hear that this exotic wearable tech won't be limited to Microsoft's campus for much longer. Get all the news from today's Microsoft event right here.
Google wants Glass-like headsets with holographic displays
Google Glass (aka Project Aura), as cool as it is, isn't very immersive: you're still looking at flat pictures superimposed on a 3D world. You may see some added depth in the future, though. Google has filed for a patent on a "head wearable display" that would show holograms. The hope is that this would create an augmented reality experience that's more involving than what you get today, including a wider field of view and a more efficient, easier-to-wear headset.
Microsoft's HoloLens headset will reach developers within a year
When Microsoft said that its HoloLens headset would arrive "in the Windows 10 time frame," what did it mean, exactly? Thanks to a BBC interview with Satya Nadella, we now have a better sense of when this augmented reality eyewear will show up. The company chief expects developers and enterprise users to get the first version of HoloLens "within the next year" -- you won't be getting one as a holiday gift, folks. It's not certain just when a personal version will launch, but Nadella describes the overall technology as a "5-year journey" that will eventually branch out to other fields. While that doesn't necessarily leave you high and dry until 2020, it does suggest that you'll have to be patient if you want to play some holographic Minecraft.
Here's how Microsoft HoloLens could teach the next wave of doctors
Microsoft is big on using HoloLens to advance science and education, but what will that actually look like? You might have a good idea after today. The company has posted a video showing how Case Western Reserve University would like to use the holographic computer to teach medicine. Students could walk around anatomical models to see how bones, muscles and organs work in the context of a human body without resorting to cadavers. They could also produce simulations that let future doctors fail in a relatively low-stress environment -- there's no live patient here, after all. Although it'll probably be a while before you have to don HoloLens to complete a PhD, this clip shows that it's no longer an outlandish concept.
Tabletop display turns your phone's images into 3D holograms (updated)
If you've ever thought that the apps and videos on your phone were flat and lifeless, H+ might have an answer. It's crowdfunding the Holus, a tabletop display that turns 2D content from phones and PCs into 3D holograms that you can see from any direction. All you do is plug in -- after that, you can play virtual board games, educational titles and any other app with support for the extra immersion. There's even motion tracking that will make sure content follows you when you wander around. H+ hopes that Holus will revive the lost art of real-life get-togethers without making you revert to that Monopoly game gathering dust in your closet. That's a bit optimistic (as are the impossibly high-quality promo shots), but it's hard to deny the allure of a living room holographic display that you don't have to wear.
Chill out with this 'holographic' virtual aquarium
There's something inexplicably tranquil about gazing at fish in an aquarium as they swim back and forth, darting about rocks or that tacky plastic treasure chest sitting in the corner. But what if you could have one on your desk, without all the water changes, filter cleaning and general maintenance? That's probably a ways off, but Memukhin Oleg's "Fishing Day" explores such a (not entirely virtual) reality. As you'll see in the video below from The Creators Project, he's used a handful of different 3D modeling techniques to bring artificial fishies to life. They react to a handheld submarine, schooling and separating as they might in the real world, flitting through a gaudy shipwreck you'd find at a pet store's aquarium aisle. It's all really, really impressive and there's even a breakdown of how the effects shot came together. The only bad part? The video's a bit on the short side.
Holograms replace people in Spanish protests
Spain's imminent Citizen Safety Law isn't exactly protester-friendly -- you can face stiff fines just for daring to disobey police peacefully, let alone holding a protest without telling the government. The activists of Hologramas por la Libertad have found a clever workaround for that, however. As the name suggests, they're using holographic protesters to challenge the new legal restrictions. People worldwide were invited to record video (or text and voice, if they preferred) that would be converted into holograms marching in front of the Spanish Parliament. If you aren't allowed to protest in person, the movement argues, you can still protest as an optical illusion.
Hologram headset from Microsoft with Hololens [Update: Site is live]
Hololens is a holographic headset from Microsoft, due out "in the Windows 10 timeframe." Windows 10 is due out this year, first on Windows Phones after the Super Bowl in February. Hololens is not presented as a straight-up virtual reality headset – "We're dreaming about holograms mixed in your world," Microsoft said during a conference today. "Welcome to a new era of Windows. Welcome to Windows Holographic." Microsoft has been working on Hololens "for years," it said, and to do so it invented the Hologram Processing Unit. Hololens features see-through lenses and allows users to navigate Windows apps and to create 3D objects, projected into the real world in front of the lenses, with gestures. Alongside the hardware, Microsoft announced HoloStudio, software that allows users to create holograms and then 3D print them. Update: The Hololens website is live, right here. Regarding gaming, the page reads, "Microsoft HoloLens intelligently maps the room you're in, blending holograms with the environment around you. Pin holograms to physical locations you choose so that your room becomes the canvas for your holographic projects and games. With Microsoft HoloLens, you can interact with holograms and everyday objects together." [Image: Microsoft]
Microsoft's HoloLens headset is a holographic display for Windows 10
Microsoft is building support for holographic displays into Windows 10, so it only makes sense that the company would make one of those displays, wouldn't it? Meet HoloLens, an official headset with see-through lenses that merges digital content with the physical. It includes spatial sound so that you can hear things happening behind you in the virtual world, and it even has a dedicated Holographic Processing Unit (HPU) to make sure everything works smoothly. The company is shy about just when it'll start selling HoloLens, but it should be available "in the Windows 10 time frame."
The secret to this interactive hologram tech is water vapor
It's 2014 and while we don't have flying cars just yet it looks like interactive holographic displays could be a reality rather soon. The not-so-cleverly-named Leia Display System (LDS) uses a combination of light, water-vapor and air to provide a transparent canvas for projected images while sensors track movement and touch inputs from users. The videos we've embedded below show all manner of poking and prodding by users, a bit of Minority Report-style pinching and zooming things in mid-air and even using gestures to rotate and flick stuff out of the way. There's even a sample with a Mercedes sedan driving through the curtain and it "shattering" around the vehicle as it passes through.
Budget TV maker TCL has something for everyone, including a curved 4K panel and a 'virtual-holographic' 3DTV
Here at CES 2014, it's all 4K, all the time. Budget TV maker TCL has just revealed a curved, 55-inch 4K model of its own, claiming the arc angle is the same as your retina for a "truer picture that minimizes eye strain." We're not quite sure we follow that logic, but if flat is more your thing, the Chinese company is also flaunting an "ultra-thin" 55-inch OLED model, claiming it has a wider color gamut, better contrast and a faster refresh rate. That model, however, seems to be standard HDTV resolution. The company will also be showing an 85-inch HDTV with a Touch Pen for artists, a virtual-holographic 3D TV using zSpace tech and a 110 inch HD model that uses polarizers to allow simultaneous program viewing. There's no mention of prices or availability, but we're hoping for something less shocking than we've seen so far -- after all, TCL markets a 4k, 50-inch TV for under a grand.
University of Tokyo builds a soap bubble 3D screen, guarantees your display stays squeaky clean (video)
There are waterfall screens, but what if you'd like your display to be a little more... pristine? Researchers at the University of Tokyo have developed a display that hits soap bubbles with ultrasonic sound to change the surface. At a minimum, it can change how light glances off the soap film to produce the image. It gets truly creative when taking advantage of the soap's properties: a single screen is enough to alter the texture of a 2D image, and multiple screens in tandem can create what amounts to a slightly sticky hologram. As the soap is made out of sturdy colloids rather than the easily-burst mixture we all knew as kids, users won't have to worry about an overly touch-happy colleague popping a business presentation. There's a video preview of the technology after the jump; we're promised a closer look at the technology during the SIGGRAPH expo in August, but we don't yet know how many years it will take to find sudsy screens in the wild.
Customer service avatars coming to JFK, La Guardia, Newark airports (video)
When you're running late, you're weighed-down with DIY in-flight entertainment and your gate number gets switched at the last minute, the last thing you need is a real-life human trying to be helpful. The Port Authority knows that, which is why it's promising to install "computerized, hologram-like avatars" in La Guardia, Newark and JFK terminal buildings by early July. The virtual assistants aren't actually holographic -- judging from the video after the break (courtesy of Transportation Nation), they appear to consist of either projected or LCD video displayed on a vaguely human-shaped static board, although given their reported $250,000 price tag we might (hopefully) be missing something. Oh, and they aren't even interactive, unless you try to push them over. [Photo Credit: Jim O'Grady/WNYC]
'TeleHuman' uses Kinect for 3D holographic chat, bumps up options for contacting Obi-Wan (video)
Looks like virtual Tupac might have some company. With Kinect, you are the hologram. Besides logging in lots of quality time at a South Korean theme park, the Kinect is now doing double duty at the Human Media Lab of Queen's University in Canada thanks to a 3D holographic chat system called "TeleHuman." The setup basically creates a life-size rendering of its subject by using six Kinect sensors, a 3D projector and a cylindrical display. This allows the viewer to walk around the cylinder for a 360-degree view of the subject, giving new meaning to having someone's back during a chat. The director of the Human Media Lab says the TeleHuman could be available for $5,000 within five years. In the meantime, the tech is also being used by the research team to create a 3D anatomical model browser called the "BodiPod." The BodiPod can display various layers of the human body, which can be virtually peeled off as the viewer gets closer to the display. Check out all the 3D action for the TeleHuman and BodiPod in plain, old 2D by viewing the video after the break.
Tupac hologram performs at Coachella, keeps all eyez on him
Have you been getting a kick out of Coachella's jams and arts in Indio, California? Or, did you decide to peacefully enjoy it from home via YouTube's site? Either way, you may have heard Tupac made an on-stage holographic appearance over the weekend, performing Hail Mary and 2 of Amerikaz Most Wanted alongside Snoop Dogg. Tupac's hologram was made possible by AV Concepts in partnership with Dr. Dre's production company and Digital Domain, after reportedly working on the project for a few months. The outfits used a display technology dubbed "Eyeliner" that, with the help of a custom rig and a mechanical solution, was able to shoot out a life-sized, 3D illusion of Mr. Shakur onto the Coachella platform. Don't believe us? Hit 'em up at the source below, though we feel compelled to tell you language isn't exactly for all ages.
South Korea's Live Park uses RFID and Kinect to bring your Holodeck fantasies one step nearer
All those long, long drives to Florida in the family station wagon seemed worth it at the time, but now that we've found out that those lucky South Koreans have another crazy theme-park, we might just change our minds. Located near Seoul, Live Park uses 3D video, holograms and augmented reality, interacting with RFID wrist bands and Kinect sensors to stitch together a continuous immersive story. You (and your avatar!) have 65 attractions, over seven themed zones, and the world's biggest interactive 360 degree stereoscopic theater to wave, jump and shout your way through. Two years and $13 million in the making, Live Park's creator d'strict is now looking to license the concept out internationally, with locations in China and Singapore already earmarked. We're not sure we could handle that long of a family drive just yet, but with a Hollywood entertainment "powerhouse" reportedly nibbling, maybe we won't have to.
IMEC working with holograms, mirrored pixels to prevent 3D movie headaches
Let's face it, 3D movies are amazing but there are times when you'll walk away with a killer headache. A group of researchers at IMEC believes that holographic video might be the best way around this problem and has been working on a means of constructing holographic displays by shining lasers on microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) platforms capable of moving up and down like small, reflective pistons. Here's the cool part: each pixel would have a spring-like mechanism attached to it that could be moved by applying voltage to it. In the first stage of the technology, a laser is bounced off a MEMS-less chip containing an image, the diffracted light interfering to create a 3D picture. From here, the team can adjust the image by replacing pixels with small, mirrored platforms that can alternate their direction to create a moving projection. It gets technical after this, but you can take a gander at the video after the break for a full demo and explanation.
Holodesk: More Kinect magic from Microsoft Research
There are a lot of conspiracy theorists at Joystiq that attribute the human race's breathtakingly rapid technological advancement to ancient aliens, claiming that world-changing inventions like polymers, optical media and the Internet have all been reverse engineered from downed extraterrestrial spacecraft. In actuality, very few modern conveniences can trace their roots back to ancient aliens; most mind-bending breakthroughs come from abstract corporate think-tanks like Microsoft Research. The lab that previously utilized a Kinect to create real-time 3D models has now developed an interactive, holographic 3D environment called Holodesk. As is demonstrated in the (strangely silent) proof of concept video above, Holodesk uses a Kinect, projector and beam splitter to create interactive holograms. In a nutshell, the Kinect watches your hands and face, tracking their movements and projecting 3D shapes onto a semi-transparent surface above your hands, tricking the eye into thinking the shapes and your hand exist on the same plane. The interface is still fairly rough, graphically speaking, but the technology itself is so solid, we're hoping it'll eventually lead to a Kinect sequel to Time Traveler.
Apple '3D imaging and display' patent was cutting edge in 2005
An Apple patent for a "3D imaging and display system" staggers out into daylight after seven years buried in the USPTO. Its eyes steadily adjust to the brightness of a Kinect-dominated world and its heart sinks. But then a random guy approaches and says, "Hey little patent, what's wrong?" "I'm obsolete," comes the sullen reply. "I'm all about detecting user movements in three dimensions, but the competition has that covered. Sure, people might *think* I've patented some kind of wild holographic virtual reality stuff too, but my paperwork only mentions that in the vaguest possible terms. There's no way I can threaten Microsoft." "Nonsense!" cries the guy. "Follow me. I know a judge in Düsseldorf."
